Actor Ryan Moloney, who plays Jarrod 'Toadie' Rebecchi in Neighbours, was forced to take stock of his life when the soap was axed last year after 37 years.
“Having something that’s been part of your life for 28 years – I’ve spent more of my life on Neighbours than off it,” Ryan says. “It’s an interesting dynamic – from being famous to being nothing all of a sudden.
“The level of importance a job has in your life, the level of structure that it gives to you and then not having that any more. I’ve got to reset and shape my life into whatever it is that I want.”
Once the dad-of-two, who has been married to wife Alison Hayward since 2003, finished filming what cast and crew believed to be the final episode, he started doing up the family farm, which he affectionately calls Chateau S**t-hole.
“That was the process I was going through, the grieving process of letting go and resetting and those thoughts of, ‘Where am I going?’ I went off and got my ticket in civil construction so we could build this new farm.”
But just when Ryan, 43, was getting stuck into his new project and lining up some acting work in the UK, he was visited by Neighbours boss Jason Herbison, who told him about the Amazon Freevee Neighbours reboot and how they wanted Toadie back in Erinsborough.
Ryan says he didn’t have to think twice about returning to the soap and is excited it’s launching in the US and Canada.
“When the producer is sitting there in front of you, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he says. “An iconic show to first of all wrap up and to get a rebirth – and on Amazon – is one of the most exciting aspects of this. There’s definitely an American slant to things which I’m really excited about.”
Despite airing for nearly four decades, Neighbours’ debut show on Amazon Freevee will be titled Episode One. “It’s crazy when you think how many episodes we’ve actually done,” Ryan says, laughing. “We’ve also got an American actress coming in [Mischa Barton, who plays new character, Reece Sinclair] and we’re very much launching into the American market, which is pretty exciting.”
Ryan was at the centre of the soap’s grand finale, which was broadcast on Channel 5 on 29 July 2022. Viewers watched as Toadie, who first arrived in the Ramsay Street in 1995, got his happy ending with Melanie Pearson, played by Lucinda Cowden, with the couple tying the knot. After more than two decades of storylines, which saw wife Dee go missing on their honeymoon, his second wife Sonya die from ovarian cancer and then Dee come back from the dead, it was a fitting tribute that Toadie’s wedding was at the heart of the final episode.
Bosses have confirmed that there is a two-year time jump when the show returns, with a flashback episode airing
a few weeks down the line. The flashback will explain what happened to some of the soap’s biggest characters during their time off our TV screens.
Ryan is keeping tight-lipped about the details of his comeback storyline but admits he’s looking forward to the viewers’ reaction and expects them to be shocked.
“There’s a big twist and I think it’s really clever,” he says. “The shock value of it is really good as well. We’ve done a fantastic job – it’s about taking the audience on this ride. We want that shock reaction from them.”
With the two-year time jump, Toadie’s children, Nell and Hugo, have been recast and are now being played by older actors. Ryan has spent time bonding with the new actors to make their on-screen family as believable as possible.
Of the junior cast members who played his original telly children, he says, “It’s been mixed emotions. I really loved those kids. They were born on the show and they never actively decided, ‘I want to be an actor.’ But they had fun and we made it as fun as possible for them. I think it’s really nice for them to go and be kids now.
“The new kids are actors and obviously I had to develop these new relationships. They have to be believable. The kids and their parents have put a lot of trust in me. It’s an interesting dynamic to have to immediately create with a child – that you are a family. But they’re brilliant and it’s only getting better.
“Nell is now a teenager, which brings a whole new dynamic to the family. I’m really looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks when we return. It’s a really exciting time for us all.”
Neighbours returns on Monday 18 September and will air Monday to Thursday on Amazon Freevee.
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